Installed Beat Sonic amp yesterday!

Installed in my 24 Pro. Huge improvement in sound. Well worth the money. Side mirrors now vibrate when I play music due to the increase in base.

Install was so-so. Took me about an hour or so. Hard part was finding a place to put the amp behind the multimedia unit. The video says to put it on the right side of the cavity towards the glovebox. No way! I ended up putting it in the center of the cavity and tilted it at an angle so the multimedia unit would slide in. Lots of cables to stuff in there as well.

Gotta be super careful when handling the multimedia unit while removing and reinstalling. Lots of opportunity to scratch things. I was super, super careful and put towels everywhere. Turned out perfect!

Again, highly recommend! Huge improvement for only $300.

 

I'd like this eventually also for my JBL system, but the first thing I have to do is sort out my door panels rattling with the marginal bass already. At a volume of 23, my Drivers and Passenger panels sound like plastic rattles more than music, and it will go away when I grab the handle. Guessing some dynamat or similar and maybe see if the factory installed them correctly in the first place.

 

Oh good. I’m currently looking into this. I JUST finished completing my system (10” JL Audio Sub, 5 ch amp, upgraded speakers and tweeters) in my 2022 Tacoma then it was murdered in an accident. I was able to remove everything but I don’t think the sub will fit. The JL Audio system is ok, but lacking power, bass, etc. I removed the removable Bluetooth speaker in the dash which helped the sound but it’s nowhere near what I had. So I think I’m going to do this too. And you did it yourself too, huh? Did you take photos?

 

What about the front JBL speaker. Does it still overpower the others?

 

No, absolutely not. In fact, I think the system sounds much better with the center speaker installed. I have tried it both ways.

One thing I would do if I installed the amp again is turn the “back” speaker adjustment to “2” to increase the volume in the rear speakers. I left it at default position “12” but turned the front speakers up to “2.”

 

So, the adjustments must be made while the dash is still apart?

 

Yes. Before you tuck the amp away and reinstall the screen.

 

How do you adjust the ‘back’ speaker?

 

Wonder if there are any amps which let you make adjustments after the installation is finished.

 

There are two small screws adjusters on the Beat Sonic amp itself.

As I understand it, one increases power to the rear speakers and one for the front speakers.

According to the Beat Sonic tech I spoke with, the sweet spot for both is between the 12 o’clock and 2 o’clock positions. Any higher than 2 risks distortion. I

I set my rears at 1 and fronts at 2. Wish I woulda set them both at 2 now but I’m not gonna disassemble everything to adjust it.

Having an accessible adjustment would be awesome.

 

Great information! Thank you!

 

I saw some tundra posts about door clips either being broken or not installed fully causing door rattle. Curious if that came over to the 4g. They recommended getting some replacement clips and reinstalling.

 

Anything 10" or larger made by JL Audio should rock the bass pretty hard.

Your 'lack of bass' symptom is probably caused by any one (or a combination) of these issues:

1) Lack of amp name-plate power. What kind of 5-channel amp is it? If it's 5 evenly-weighted channels (i.e. say a 5 channel x 100W-per-channel amp,) a single 100W channel is nowhere near enough juice for a quality 10" sub. Get a separate dedicated mono amp for the sub that is at rated at least 400W RMS for that 1 channel.

2) Lack of supply current (battery power) getting to the amp, due to undersized supply wiring. Even a 400W RMS monoblock amp won't properly power a sub if it is being fed by little 14ga copper wires. Should run +12V supply & ground wires of 8ga minimum, even 6ga if possible. See info here: https://www.crutchfield.com/S-9s3rky6tYZp/learn/learningcenter/car/cable_gauge_chart.html

3) Lack of full-range input signal from the head unit. If you are using the stock head unit in a Taco, there is a good chance that the bottom octave (or more) of the bass is compressed or rolled off / tuned away as part of the basic design of the head unit. Get an aftermarket head unit that will feed the full unaltered signal to your amplifier(s). Doesn't have to be fancy, just capable of full-range output. The 9" JOYING cheapie I put in my 2014 does this just fine.